That New ‘Mean Girls’ Teacher Has Homework to Do

It was Jennifer Simard’s first day of work. Propping her elbows on a railing behind the audience in the back of the August Wilson Theater, she peered through binoculars, purchased just hours before so she could get a really close-up look at what was happening on stage during this Tuesday night performance of “Mean Girls.”

She squinted. What equation was the calculus teacher writing? Where did she put her marker? How did she then weave through the students during a dance number?

That teacher, Ms. Norbury, was one of three drastically different roles Ms. Simard would soon inhabit. She had quite a bit of catching up to do as she embarked on one of the unheralded journeys in theater — joining the established ensemble of a Broadway musical well after it opens.

“It’s my job to enter into this well-oiled machine as seamlessly as possible, almost like a ghost,” she explained.

Where her fellow cast members had months to master their parts, Ms. Simard had exactly two weeks to learn the staging for characters previously played by Kerry Butler. (The others: the mothers of queen bee Regina George and nice girl Cady Heron.) That included only one full rehearsal with the whole cast — called a “put-in” — that comes at the end of the process.

A perpetually sunny 48, Ms. Simard didn’t seem especially fazed; after all, her Broadway debut in 2007 was as a replacement in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

She allowed a reporter to follow her during key moments — including an expert comedic consultation — as she got ready to face the Plastics, culminating in her first performance on Tuesday night.

Watch carefully

Image

Ms. Simard positioned herself behind the orchestra section to help learn blocking for the three characters she portrays.CreditCaitlin Ochs for The New York Times

Ms. Simard had finished her run as Ernestina in “Hello, Dolly” in March and was in rehearsal for a summer production of “Annie” in St. Louis when she read for “Mean Girls.” A hit show, it promised to be steady work.

She auditioned on July 2. A little more than two weeks later, she got the part.

She knew the basics of the script, having been part of a reading of the musical in 2016 during its development, and immediately got to work by memorizing her lines even before her contract began.

Image

Ms. Simard reviewing the script for the musical.CreditCaitlin Ochs for The New York Times

“It’s not a lot of time,” she said. “You can’t really play and find the beats you need as an actor with your script in your hand for very long.”

On Aug. 28, her first official day, she was fitted for 10 costumes, and started vocal rehearsals.

For an actor, joining a show, rather than originating a character, means your creative choices are narrowed. There’s less to discover when you’re plugged in to an existing machine.

To John MacInnis, the associate choreographer of “Mean Girls,” who would be working with Ms. Simard, that limitation can be a blessing.

“I personally think getting thrown into a show is a lot easier than going through the whole process from the beginning because everyone is concentrating on you,” he said. “You’re the main focus.”

For Ms. Simard, the most essential task was simple: watching the show as often as possible.

Rehearsal time is limited, so it’s key for performers to learn as much about blocking, choreography, how cast members navigate the stage space and other minutiae through visual osmosis.

Thus the binoculars. And, on Ms. Simard’s second night at the theater, a stopwatch, which allowed her to notate her script with timings for costume changes and transitions.

Finding your place(s)

Image

Fellow cast members help Ms. Simard acclimate to the show during a rehearsal.CreditCaitlin Ochs for The New York Times

During days, Ms. Simard worked on scenes and choreography mostly in a rehearsal room away from the theater. There was also a day built in for photography.

On Sept. 6, Ms. Simard was at the August Wilson with other actors and members of the creative team, including Mr. MacInnis. This is typical, especially for a musical with its many moving parts; new cast members are trained by key deputies, not the creative leaders.

To rehearse blocking without the whole cast present — that would be a costly commitment, given union rules — performers have to memorize a virtual grid, with zero at the center of the stage.

Ms. Simard’s transitions included moving a desk on and off the stage at the end of one dance-heavy musical number. If she was in the wrong spot a colleague could get hurt.

She looked tentative as she ran through her dance moves on stage. But with each run-through she seemed to be soaking it in.

Becca Petersen, the assistant dance captain, is responsible for knowing every dance move for every cast member. She and Mr. MacInnis guided Ms. Simard through “Do This Thing” and “I See Stars,” the final two big production numbers.

“Do This Thing” ends with Kyle Selig, who plays Cady’s love interest, essentially belly-flopping directly in front of Ms. Simard. After one pass, she asked Mr. MacInnis if her spacing was correct: “I just want to make sure he has room to get around me.”

“There’s a lot of traffic,’’ she explained afterward. “You have to make sure you’re not hurting anybody. Safety first, you know?”

Getting notes from the source

Image

Tina Fey, at right, giving advice to Ms. Simard during the put-in rehearsal.CreditCaitlin Ochs for The New York Times

Ms. Simard was the only performer in costume at the put-in on Sept. 7. It was four days before show time and, along with everything else, she needed to rehearse her 10 costume changes in real time.

As a gesture of good will, she ordered a box of soft pretzels for the entire cast. She was a bundle of jittery energy, her nervousness not helped by the fact that Tina Fey, who wrote the book for the show and played Ms. Norbury in the 2004 film, was there to watch.

Cast members not in Ms. Simard’s scenes frequently burst into applause when she came on stage or executed a successful number. Casey Hushion, the associate director, occasionally strolled up to the stage to adjust Ms. Simard’s spacing.

It wasn’t completely smooth — Ms. Simard stumbled on a few lines — but afterward she said she felt exactly where she needed to be. In a chat with the music director, Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Ms. Simard compared the one-and-done rehearsal to her wedding day: “Pay attention because it’s going to be a blur.”

Image

Ms. Simard’s gift to fellow cast members added to the generally festive spirit backstage.CreditPhotographs by Caitlin Ochs for The New York Times

Ms. Fey had some notes. One of Ms. Simard’s characters, Mrs. George, absolutely wants to be part of the Plastics, the shallow, popular and occasionally cruel trio of high school girls at the center of the show. But Ms. Fey reminded the actress that she wants to be a good mother, too.

In 2016, Ms. Simard was nominated for a Tony Award playing a gambling-addicted nun in the spoofy musical “Disaster!” Her big number had her virtually making out with a slot machine.

She’s not afraid of physical comedy. And Ms. Fey’s notes included a bit of encouragement. She particularly liked how Ms. Simard was clutching Mrs. George’s puppet dog in one of her scenes.

It’s show time

Ms. Simard (at right, with Erika Henningsen) as Regina George’s mother during her first official “Mean Girls” performance.CreditJenny Anderson for The New York Times

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, hours before she was to make her “Mean Girls” debut, Ms. Simard got pointers for the first time from Casey Nicholaw, the show’s director and choreographer.

Referring to her first scene as Mrs. Heron, Mr. Nicholaw suggested that she “warm her up a little bit.” But mostly he was full of praise. “You have the best musical theater face ever,” he said. He ended the rehearsal by punctuating his encouragement: “You’re going to be so [clap] good [clap] tonight [clap].”

Minutes before going on stage, Ms. Simard was in the wings as fellow cast members hugged her and wished her good luck. “I feel ready,” she said, staring intently at the stage.

Bernadette Peters — her former “Hello, Dolly” colleague — was in the audience to see her. And backstage, the crew had laid out boxes of Tic Tacs that were specially labeled “I’m a Pusher,” a reference to one of Ms. Simard’s lines.

There was one early hiccup. As Ms. Norbury, that equation-writing calculus teacher, Ms. Simard skipped a few lines, throwing off the timing of an entrance for Erika Henningsen, as Cady.

In her dressing room right just afterward Ms. Simard took the blame. “It makes for a funny story — later,” she said.

Speaking of which, she also had a triumph: Her approach to Mrs. George’s first scene with the puppet dog earned her exit applause as she walked offstage.

She would remember to keep it in. It was time to leave the theater and go to bed. After all, she had two shows the next day.

Image

During the curtain call, fellow cast members celebrate with Ms. Simard (center) in her calculus-teacher costume.CreditJenny Anderson for The New York Times